“We had a discussion after last year about how to make it a lot more of a community event so there’s something for everybody,” fair manager Hal Gausman said. “… We talked about how to make it more fun, more exciting.”

Snohomish County’s spring fair debuted in 2010. It was formerly called the Recreation and Sportsmen Expo. Organizers hope attendance this year will top the approximately 9,000 from 2012.

Organizers in the county parks department hope they’ve resolved one of the biggest gripes from last year, when patrons were unable to taste entries from a barbecue cook-off even as they were teased by mouth-watering aromas.

That owed to a contract issue with fairgrounds concessionaires, Gausman said. It won’t be a problem this time around.

Returning this year will be vendor booths showcasing the outdoors and related products. Everett Steelhead and Salmon Club is hosting a youth casting pond to be stocked with 1,000 trout. Les Schwab Tire Centers is sponsoring the event, which is for first-time anglers ages 12 and under.

While festival admission is free, rides and games cost money. Parking is $5 per vehicle.

The schedule includes:

Festival hours are from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

A ceremony for the 50th anniversary of Snohomish County Parks is scheduled from 11 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Evergreen Events Center.

Ciscoe Morris is scheduled to take the Events Center stage from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday.